For the past several years, industrial fires have been fought using a variety of surfactant foams. A foam generator comprised of a specialized nozzle for entraining air and surfactants into a stream of water, was used to create the fire fighting foam. Such a foam generator would both generate and propel foam for fighting industrial fires.
The foam generator was introduced in Europe for use in nightclubs and in stage productions, and is being advantageously used in entertainment settings for theatrical effect. The foam generator of the present invention is similar to currently available fire fighting foam generators, but the surfactants used in this presently preferred embodiment are altered to make the product more suitable for ease in dispersing and cleaning up after use.
However, creating foam in stage production environments does require the foam generator to disperse large amounts of water to entrain the air and surfactants. The problem presented herein is that a large amount of water remains after the theatrical effect is completed. The dispersed water could harm environments where the foam generator is used. For example, floors and ceilings might suffer damage from the abundance of the remaining water. This damage would likely cause users to stop using the currently available foam.
Therefore, there is currently an unmet need in the art for a foam generator that would generate great amounts of foam while using much less water than currently available foam generators.